NIA conducts raids across 8 locations in Jammu and Kashmir, arrests 3 ISIS operatives

The agency said that certain other associates of the arrested accused are involved in on-ground and online activities of ISIS, including in content creation and translation of India centric ISIS propaganda magazine `Voice of Hind`.

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday (October 10, 2021) conducted raids in Jammu and Kashmir and arrested three Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) operatives. During the searches at eight locations in Srinagar and Anantnag districts, Tawheed Latief, Suhail Ahmad and Afshan Parvez were arrested and a number of incriminating documents and digital devices such as mobile phones, tablets, laptop, hard disks etc were recovered and seized.

"NIA had received information that proscribed terrorist organization ISIS has hatched a conspiracy to radicalize and recruit impressionable Muslim youth in India to wage violent Jihad against the Indian state and in order to execute its nefarious plan an organized campaign has been launched over the cyberspace which is supplemented by on-ground terror financing activities," the agency said in a statement.

"ISIS terrorists operating from various conflict zones along with ISIS cadres in India, by assuming pseudo-online identities, have created a network wherein ISIS-related propaganda material is disseminated for radicalizing and recruiting members into ISIS fold," the statement read further.

According to NIA, the arrested accused were associated with Pakistan and Afghanistan based foreign ISIS operatives and certain other associates of arrested accused based in Kashmir are involved in on-ground and online activities of ISIS, including in content creation and translation of India centric ISIS propaganda magazine 'Voice of Hind'.

This is to be noted that the agency had registered a case in June this year and had taken up the investigation. It had earlier arrested four accused persons in the case.